Everything to Me
by the-Bookworm-Princess
Summary: This story is cowritten with nikkinor. We wanted to try a different pairing, so this story details Kate and Gerald’s feelings during Bete Noire, and the aftermath of the ordeal. Spoliers for said episode. Complete!
1. Chapter 1

Title: Everything To Me

Authors: nikkinor and the-Bookworm-Princess

Spoilers: the whole episode of Bê te Noire

Pairing: Kate/Gerald

Summary: We wanted to try a different pairing, so this story details Kate and Gerald's feelings while they are being held hostage, and the aftermath of the ordeal.

Disclaimer: Navy NCIS is the property of Belisaurius, Paramount, DPB, CBS, and all that jazz...The characters just run around in our head all day long, so we put them to work.

BP's Author Note: Thanks to Hannah for editing. Did I do better this time, 'boos'? ;) Thanks to nikki for writing this with me, and thanks for the new and different idea. You rock, girl!

nikki's A/N: This was so much fun to write. It might have taken me and BP about two months to get to the point where we could post it, but I love the way it turned out. Big Thank You BP for writing this with me, I had a ton of fun, and you rock too.

* * *

Kate walked to the side elevator, carrying a large box filled with various evidence bags. She came to a stop in front of the two sliding silver doors and leaned the box on her knee to make her right hand free to push the 'down' button on the elevator's control panel.

Something didn't feel right already, especially with Ducky calling her Abby when she called autopsy. He had seemed tense and rushed, but she and Abby had very different voices and even through a phone Ducky would know the two apart.

The elevator dinged, announcing it's arrival to the third floor. Kate boarded the elevator as soon as the two silver doors opened and pushed the button for the basement floor.

Ducky had never asked for the evidence back before Abby had tested it, and that only made it more odd that he had called her Abby on the phone. Why on earth would he want it back? To make sure she had everything? No. Maybe he had reason to believe there was infection and wanted it back just in case? Maybe.

Everything was seeming very...well...hinky. Well, maybe that word wasn't very Kate, it was more creepy than anything.

The elevator dinged again, telling her it was time to get off and find out if anything was wrong. Something made her feel scared and nervous as she walked out of the elevator and into the red lit hallway outside of autopsy. It made her feel like something was horribly wrong, and that the rest of the day wasn't going to be a good one.

"You can leave it there," Ducky said as he walked up to the door to autopsy.

"You have to sign," Kate said, holding up the box so he could see it better through the window in the door.

"Well...I can't open the doors with you there."

"What's the infection?" Kate asked, trying to find out what might be wrong.

"Ah...don't know yet. Had a pustule on his thigh. Maybe nothing." He paused for a moment. "Yeah, I'll sign. Cross my heart," he said as he made a little 'X' over his heart with his finger.

"I beat my phobia," Kate said, again trying to find out any problems.

"Yes. So I see," he paused for only a moment, "Abby. Well done."

Kate knew something was wrong after that and she was very worried now. She turned and set the box on the floor, and after standing back up pulled her jacket back over her gun. She then headed to the elevator so that she could find Gibbs and give him all the information she had.

When she had bent over and placed the evidence box on the floor, the intruder saw the weapon underneath her jacket. _'Forensic scientist indeed,'_ he thought to himself as he stepped through the autopsy doors, his own weapon raised and at the ready.

Kate heard the doors whoosh open, and turned around. When she saw the strange man, she instinctively reached for her own weapon. But when she saw his gun leveled at her, she decided against it, knowing he had the upper hand. She looked him up and down, worriedly, and made no movement.

"When did lab rats start carrying Sig Sauers?"

His grin unnerved her, but she quickly regained her composure. She said nothing, just stared at him.

He waved his gun in the direction of autopsy. "Hands on your head," he ordered. She did as she was told. "Now, please step inside."

She walked inside the familiar room and immediately searched for Gerald. When she saw him standing by one of the three autopsy tables, she was relieved; neither he nor Ducky were hurt. The intruder followed her, after grabbing the box of evidence.

"Remove your jacket and lie down on the table, please. Face down."

Kate glared at him, then took off her jacket and lied down as she was told, replacing her hands behind her head.

"And you two," he directed Gerald and Ducky, "on the floor, hands on your head." He waved his gun over towards the other table.

Ducky and Gerald obeyed promptly and sat with their backs against the table.

The man placed his gun by Kate's feet on the table, then proceed to frisk her, searching for any hidden weapons.

She resisted her instinctive urge to shudder as the intruder ran his hands down her sides and along the insides of her legs. He was very thorough in his search.

He tapped her ankle when he was done. "No throwaway?" he asked, picking up her jacket and finding her badge. "Special Agent…Caitlin Todd."

Kate watched him, but did not respond.

Realizing he was getting no response from his newest hostage, he proceeded to remove the clip from her Sig Sauer. "You any good with this gun, Caitlin?"

"Give it back and I'll demonstrate," she snapped.

"Mmm. Ever fire it in anger?" he asked, removing the remaining bullet in the chamber.

"I'd love to right now."

After a pause, he asked, "Did you shoot Qassam?" Then he began going through the evidence she had brought.

Kate made no reply.

He opened one of the boxes inside and asked again, this time his question slightly different. "Did you put that double-tap in his heart?" He grabbed one of the small evidence bags that contained bullets and looked at it for a moment, waiting for her response. He got none.

After a moment, Ducky spoke up. "She didn't shoot him."

"Who did?" He continued going through the box. When Ducky made no indication of answering, the man glared at the doctor.

"Special Agent…Gibbs," Ducky informed him.

"Ducky!" Kate cried, incredulous.

"That name rings a bell, Doctor Mallard," the man said, with a half-smile as he looked at a package containing blood-stained clothes.

"Don't answer this bastard!" Kate said, irritated.

The man threw a package against the wall and continued searching. "You mustn't chastise the good Doctor, Caitlin. At least not until you know my rules." He opened a small bag containing a vial of blood.

"I don't play by terrorist rules," she shot back.

He looked at the vial, reading the writing on the label. "Who says I'm a terrorist?" He put the vial in the front pocket of his shirt.

Ducky and Gerald looked at each other when he said this.

"Doctor," the man addressed Ducky, "is this all the evidence?"

"From what I can see from here," Ducky answered truthfully. "Gerald?"

"It looks like all of it," his assistant replied after looking it over.

"Caitlin," the man said, satisfied, "you may roll over now. _If_ you keep your hands where they are." She rolled over slowly, keeping her hands behind her head as ordered. "Did Special Agents search Qassam's room?" the intruder asked her.

Kate made no reply, but kept eye contact with him to show her direct refusal to answer. "Where is the evidence that was bagged and tagged?" he asked, growing slightly irritated. When Kate still did not answer, the man turned to Ducky. "Doctor, please explain the rules to stubborn little Caitlin."  
"If we lie, or if he thinks we're lying, he'll put a bullet in one of Gerald's joints," Ducky told her.  
"Be specific. Ball and socket joints," he said, holding his gun in front of him. "And you omitted one condition."  
"I did?" Ducky asked.  
"Yes, you did."

"Oh, yes," Ducky remembered. "We mustn't try to trick him."  
"Which you tried to do, Caitlin," the man said as he looked at her, "by saying you beat your phobia."  
"Well, she didn't know the rules," Ducky said in her defense.  
"But you did, Dr. Mallard, and you joined the ruse by calling her Abby."

Kate looked over the edge of the table nervously and could only watch helplessly as the terrorist aimed the gun at Gerald and pulled the trigger. There was almost no sound as the bullet left the gun and imbedded itself in Gerald's shoulder. Had Kate's voice worked, she might have cried out in horror. But instead, she gasped and rolled over. She jumped down from the table and helped Ducky lift him up. Gerald's pained cries and groans cut straight to her heart. If she only had her gun…

"Don't worry, son," Ducky comforted as he lifted his assistant onto the table with Kate's help. "I'll take care of you."  
"You bastard," Kate cursed the intruder as she helped Gerald lie down.

"You seem like such a bright young woman, and that's all you can say?" the man taunted.  
"You _are_ a bastard!" Kate yelled over a cry of pain from Gerald.  
"Kate, Kate, my medical bag, over by the desk, on the floor," Ducky ordered.

Kate left the table to get the bag.

"It's all right, Gerald, hang on, I've got morphine."  
The man stopped Kate mid-way to her destination. "I would dislike having to put a slug into Gerald's knee as well," he warned her then moved out of her way.

Kate quickly grabbed Ducky's bag and returned to his side, handing it to him.

Suddenly the phone started ringing. Ducky and Kate ignored it as they aided Gerald.

"Answer the phone, doctor," the intruder ordered as Kate and Ducky attempted to keep Gerald from bleeding out.  
"You answer it," Ducky retorted. "I'm trying to stop this bleeding. Give him the morphine!" he ordered Kate.  
"Where?" Kate asked, trying to remain calm.  
"In the thigh," the terrorist answered before Ducky had a chance. "Right through the cloth."

Kate looked to Ducky for reassurance and when he nodded, she stuck Gerald with the needle and emptied the syringe into his leg.

"You better answer that phone, or you'll be working on his knee," the terrorist threatened.  
"Kate, come here, come here," Ducky said, not doubting that the man would shoot Gerald again. "Throw that away, come here, come on!" Kate quickly ran to the other side of the table. "Put pressure on here," Ducky instructed, "If the blood seeps through your fingers, then push harder."

Kate pressed her gloved hands firmly where Ducky had told her and winced when Gerald groaned in pain. She watched Ducky walk quickly over to his phone.

The intruder pushed the speakerphone button and Ducky answered, "Autopsy."

Gibbs' voice came through the speakers. "Ducky. What's with the infectious autopsy?"  
"Purely precautionary."

Kate looked back at Gerald and noticed his blood was slowly leaking through her fingers. She pressed harder and saw Gerald clench his teeth and inhale sharply.  
"That why you took the evidence back?" Gibbs asked.  
"Yes," Ducky lied. "Sorry. Look, I'm, I'm really busy."  
Kate looked up when she heard her boss ask, "Hey, is Kate there?" She saw the terrorist shake his finger.  
"N-no." Ducky answered according to his captor's wishes. "She left a few minutes ago."  
"Okay. You let me know when I can come down, you got me curious."  
Their captor pressed a button, ending the conversation. Kate returned her attention to Gerald and heard Ducky tell the man, "I can't wait to weigh your liver." She couldn't help but smile a little.

Ducky returned with some bandages and forceps. Kate noticed him doing something to the wound, but didn't know what it was; she wasn't about to ask. Then Ducky instructed Kate, "Help me wrap these around his wound." They ran the bandages over Gerald's shoulder and around his chest. Then they slowly eased him into a sitting position.

"How's he doing?" Kate asked worriedly.  
"I'm fine," Gerald managed.  
"The bleeding stopped," Kate said optimistically. "That's good."  
"Yes and no," the intruder said. "Correct, Dr. Mallard?"  
"I had to clamp his auxiliary artery to stop it," Ducky explained to Kate.  
"Which means Gerald will lose his arm if the artery isn't repaired and the blood flow restored soon," the man said, walking slowly around the table.

Kate looked up at him when he said this, the turned quickly to the M.E.. "Ducky, can't you do that?" Her voice betrayed her worry and fear.  
"This is an autopsy room, not an ER," he replied. "No, I can't, I'm sorry."

Kate looked nervously at Gerald. _'And it will be all your fault if he does lose his arm, Kate,' _she berated herself. _'You just _had_ to pretend to be Abby…'_

"I mean, he's going to need a fully equipped room and staff," Ducky went on.

"Which he will get as soon as I'm out of here," the terrorist assured.

Kate looked at the man as he talked and felt the hatred burning within her. If Gerald lost his arm because of this man…

"So where is the evidence collected in Qassam's room?" he asked.  
Kate stared at him for a moment before answering. "The lockup."  
"Which is?"  
"In the garage. One floor up," she responded calmly, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of seeing her anger.  
"Same way I came in," he said.  
"I don't know how you came in." She didn't really care either.  
"In a body bag," he informed her.  
She raised her eyebrows slightly. "Same way you're going out," she said smugly with a small smile to match her tone.  
"Is it the same garage?" His eyes never left hers, and he never showed even a hint of emotion.  
"No," Ducky answered as he continued taping the bandages. "The evidence locker is in the garage next to forensics. Above us." He pointed to the ceiling and then returned his hands to Gerald's shoulder.

As she continued helping Ducky, Kate watched the terrorist out of the corner of her eye. He walked across the room and suddenly stopped when something above him caught his eye. She saw him raise his gun and shoot whatever it was. She sighed and then looked back at Gerald, giving him a comforting smile. "We'll get you to a hospital soon, Gerald, don't you worry." She said it more to convince herself than to convince him. Her reassurance was rewarded by a half-smile from him, which she returned.

They fashioned a sling from the bandages and secured Gerald's arm in place. As they did this, the intruder removed his scrubs and began going through the evidence Kate had brought down. Kate watched him put something in his pocket, then helped Ducky lay Gerald down on the table.

"Doctor, Caitlin, put Qassam in the body bag," the man ordered.

Kate and Ducky looked at each other for a moment, then started to walk towards the body. They stopped, however, when they heard the evacuation sirens begin blaring through the whole building. They looked at the door, hoping to see armed agents coming to rescue them. No such luck.

"Now. Please," the intruder said, growing agitated. As Ducky prepared the bag, the man looked at Kate and said, "Soon they'll be calling to negotiate your release."

"We don't negotiate with terrorists," Kate replied.

"Caitlin," the man said, "when you get to know me better you won't call me that."

"I have no intention of getting to know you better," she snapped back.

He cocked his head slightly to one side. "Are you sure?" He wanted to get a rise out of her, and Kate knew it.

She said nothing, but kept her eyes locked with his as she unzipped the body bag and helped Ducky put Qassam into it. As they did so, she glanced over at Gerald, who was lying motionless on the cold, metal autopsy table; she hoped the morphine was working. Suddenly, the phone rang.

"Answer the phone, Doctor Mallard," the man commanded.

Ducky hurried over and reached to pick up the phone, but pressed the speaker button when he felt the man's gun in his back. "Autopsy."

"Hello," said a female voice, "My name is Christine Arkin. I would like to speak to the man holding you hostage, Doctor."

"Speak," the intruder said.

"What is it you want?" the negotiator asked.

"Just the evidence collected from Qassam's room."

As he spoke, Kate walked over to stand by Gerald and rested her hand on his uninjured shoulder. Although Gerald's eyes remained closed, he smiled slightly.

The man continued talking to the negotiator. "I regrettably had to demonstrate the consequence of not obeying my orders. The man I shot is in danger of losing his arm."

"Well, then it's important you let us--"

"When all evidence collected from Qassam's room is in my hands, you may have the wounded man."

"I'll need the approval of the NCIS Director before I--"

"He is standing next to you," the man guessed correctly. "Nod yes to the negotiator, Director Morrow."

There was a pause on the other end of the line, then Christine said, "You have a deal. Now can we talk about releasing th--"

"You have ten minutes," he said, delivering his ultimatum.

"No, we need more ti--" The man hit the button, cutting her off.

Ducky returned to the table on which Qassam's body was resting and finished zipping the body bag. Kate stood off to the side and watched the terrorist as he looked out toward the elevators; she was trying to formulate a plan of attack. Settling upon an idea, she grabbed a scalpel from the tray.

"Kate," Ducky whispered, "No. He wants you to try."

Kate looked over at the man just as he began walking back over to them. Seeing the knife in her hand, he smirked. "Doctor Mallard thinks that you were daring me to pick up this knife," she said, holding it up.

"The proper term is a 'disecting tool'," he corrected.

"You didn't answer my question. You just wanted another excuse to shoot Gerald, didn't you?"

At the mention of his name, Gerald opened his eyes and watched the exchange between the terrorist and Kate. He saw the look in Kate's eyes. _'Don't do anything rash, Kate…'_

The man chuckled and when he started to turn, Kate lunged forward and tried to plunge the knife into him, but he blocked her arm, and twisted it painfully behind her back, wrenching the scalpel from her grip.

_'Like that,'_ Gerald thought. _'That jerk had better keep his hands off her…'_

As the terrorist kept Kate's arm pinned behind her, he pulled her body against his. "I had no intention of shooting Gerald again, Caitlin," he said, his face mere inches from hers. "I did, however, want to see if I was right about you," he whispered, his lips so near that she could feel his breath on her ear.

Containing a shudder, she retorted, "Next time I'll be quicker."

"Oh, don't you wonder why you weren't now?"

She saw his eyes dart to her lips then back to her eyes again. _'Don't respond, Kate, he wants to make you mad,'_ she told herself and bit her tongue.

"Uhh, could you give me a go?" Ducky asked, wanting the man to let go of Kate.

The intruder released Kate's arm, but did not break eye contact with her, meeting her glare with emotionless eyes. Then he turned to Ducky. "I think not, Doctor. _You_ would kill me without hesitation." He aimed his weapon at the M.E., then grabbed his shoulder and pressed the barrel of the gun into Ducky's back. "I do, however, think you would regret it." He guided Ducky over to stand by the body cooler. "Now we have work to do, if we are all to survive this day." He pointed his gun at Kate and it waved over towards Ducky. She sighed and joined her colleague.

Keeping his gun trained on them, the man searched the drawers until he found duct tape and rope. He tied their hands behind their backs and placed strips of the tape over their mouths. He forced them into the body cooler, which he then locked. Once he had completed his work, he called MTAC.

* * *

Kate could hear nothing within the cold prison of the body cooler. She shivered and thought of Gerald lying there, helpless and hurt. The possibility that he might lose his arm frightened her. The entire situation had her fighting back tears, but she struggled not to show it. Not that Ducky could see her in the dark freezer, but she knew if she started crying she wouldn't be able to stop. _'You are a Special Agent and Special Agents don't cry,' _she told herself. But if anything happened to Gerald she knew no amount of solace would stop the tears.

She remembered the first time they met. It was on her first case, when Sergeant Fuentes had been murdered. Gerald seemed like a real gentleman, and proved it over time. Her favorite memory of him was when she was on the "Enterprise" and he was in autopsy pretending to Petty Officer Wilkes when Ducky showed them how the man was murdered. He wasn't very outspoken, but he made her smile. She shivered again and thought, _'Any day now, Gibbs…'_

_

* * *

_

Gerald was vaguely aware of the intruder making a phone call as he lay there on the cold table. He had seen the horrid man force Ducky and Kate into the body cooler and was very worried; they would quickly freeze to death in there. He knew _he_ would be fine, but he couldn't bear the thought of never hearing another one of Ducky's rambling stories; they did get annoying sometimes, but he loved working with Doctor Mallard and picking up the little bits of wisdom the older man imparted to him. He also didn't know what he would do if anything happened to Kate. Her smile always brightened his day, and she was so beautiful. Of course, he liked for her more than just her looks, although he had never told her of his feelings. He remembered fondly the times that they had had lunch together. Ducky had been there, too, but that didn't bother him; he was too shy to her tell how he felt anyway.

Suddenly, the door to autopsy whooshed open. Gerald opened his eyes slightly and saw Gibbs carrying a box. _'Must be the evidence,'_ he mused, before shutting his eyes again. He listened to the conversation between the terrorist and Gibbs as he lay there motionless.

"You're older than I expected," the man said, aiming his gun at Gibbs.

Gerald smiled a little at this comment. _'But he can take you out…'_

"Where are the other hostages?" Gibbs asked.

"Box on the floor, your hands on top of your head," the terrorist ordered. "Then you turn around and walk back to the door."

"Not without Gerald."

"He won't leave here at all unless you put the box on the floor, your hands on your head, turn around…"

"...turn around and walk back to the door," Gibbs parroted. "Older doesn't mean deaf."

Gerald heard Gibbs set the box down and wondered for a moment if he would leave as he had been commanded. He opened one eye and saw Gibbs link his hands together behind his head and continue talking to the man. He suddenly felt very tired and closed his eyes as he drifted into a semi-conscious state.

The next things he heard were several gunshots. His eyes flew open and he struggled to see who had been shot. Both Gibbs and the terrorist were down and out of his view. Suddenly HRT members came running through the door. Some of them rushed over to him, while others ran to the two fallen men. "They're in the body cooler," he mumbled as they fussed over him. When he saw two team members head towards the big freezer, he closed his eyes again and drifted back into unconsciousness.

* * *

Kate and Ducky both heard the gunshots from within the body cooler and were immediately worried. They hadn't heard the door open and Gibbs come in, so the only conclusion they could draw was that the man had shot Gerald. A few moments later, they heard someone trying to open the lock on the body cooler. The person was successful and opened the door, freeing the freezing captives. HRT members untied their hands, and Kate immediately ripped the duct tape off her mouth. She ran over to where several EMT's were hovering over Gerald, preparing to move him onto a nearby stretcher. Relief flooded her when she realized that he hadn't been shot again. "Is he going to be okay?" she asked the man nearest her.

"Yes, ma'am," he answered. "He'll be fine once we get him to a hospital. Excuse me, please." He pulled the stretcher over and prepared to move the wounded man.

Kate stepped back then looked around to see who had been shot. Tony and an EMT were squatted next to Gibbs, who was on the floor. They were giving him oxygen, and holding a cloth to his shoulder where he had taken a bullet. She looked past him and saw the terrorist lying dead. She sighed, relieved, then returned to Ducky. She placed an arm around him and they walked out of autopsy.

Later, Kate was informed that the body on the floor was Qassam's and not the terrorist's. Her shoulders slumped at the news, but she continued her paperwork as Tony told her what had transpired while she and Ducky were locked in the body cooler. When he said that Gibbs suspected the terrorist had been wearing a bullet-proof vest the whole time, she verified the assumption. "He was; I felt it."

"You _felt_ it?" Tony asked, looking up at her.

She met his gaze for a second, then quickly looked back down at the paper in front of her.

But Tony wouldn't let it go. He stood up, walked over to her, and sat on the edge of her desk. "Well, how close did you get to feel it? Close enough to touch him," he said, answering his own question. She looked up at him. "With your hands or did you touch him with--"

"Close enough to stab him with a knife in my hand," she informed him, cutting him off.

"And you didn't?" he pressed.

Kate paused. "No." She resumed writing.

Tony leaned closer to her. "Stockholm syndrome?"

"You can't identify with your captor in an hour," she said agitatedly. _'Just drop it!'_ she wanted to yell at him.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe it's like falling in love. It can happen--" he snapped his fingers "--like that." He slowly walked back to his desk.

Kate thought about his words. Yes, there was something about the man that had made her hesitate, but she was _not_ in love with him. Although she didn't know _why_ she had hesitated, she knew she had no feelings for that man. She contemplated the entire ordeal for a few minutes more and realized that the man she truly _did_ care about was in the hospital right now, resting peacefully with the blood flow in his arm restored.


	2. Chapter 2

A deep green Mercedes pulled into a parking space between a red pick-up truck and a white Sedan in the hospital parking lot. Kate shut down the car and took a deep breath. This was the first time she had come to see Gerald alone. All of the other times she had visited him Ducky or Abby, and even Tony once, had been with her. It was like an excuse to be there with someone from the office, an alibi, being able to say she was there for the support and comfort of the people at work.

But today she couldn't say that, she was there on her own free will on a Saturday afternoon. She couldn't get away with 'I'm just here to see how your doing', not with the kind of feelings she had for him, not with the horrible nightmare she had the night before playing through her head.

She had never had a nightmare in her entire life, not once had she been scared enough that the event had followed her into her sleep and cause her peaceful slumber to be interrupted by beasts and other evils lurking in the dark.

Until last night.

Until she had seen that horrible terrorist's eyes glimmer and shoot Gerald, but instead of his shoulder being hit, this time he had aimed to kill and put a bullet in his head. He had laughed, flashed his smile at her and acted like nothing was wrong. She tried to stab him, like she had before, and again failed. That was when she woke up, when she had sat up in her bed and felt so scared and so alone.

Kate pulled her pocketbook out from in between the two front seats and opened the door of the dark green car she had been driving for the past few years she had lived in DC. She stepped out of the car and the cold air of the day hit her full force and blew her hair in all directions, she grabbed her coat from the passenger side of the car and pulled it close to her small frame. After closing the door she made her way up to the main entrance of the hospital.

A pair of sliding glass doors swooshed open as she walked into the cool yet quaintly warm lobby of Bethesda Naval hospital. It had one of the best rehabilitation treatment centers in America and Gibbs had pulled a lot of strings to get Gerald (who was not in the Navy and had never been in the Navy) into the care of the hospital. Even though Gibbs himself had only visited Gerald a few times, Kate knew he cared by how much time and effort he had put into getting him the best care possible.

Kate pushed her sunglasses through her hair and pushed her hair around with them until they sat sweetly on the top of her head. She always took the same path to Gerald's hospital room; up the elevator to the sixth floor, right at the first hallway, left at the third off of that one and room 638 on the right hand side at the end of the hallway. All six times she had visited she had taken the same route, and today was no exception.

She caught an elevator just as the strong and shiny silver metals doors were closing, she politely thanked the man standing beside her for holding the door then turned back to the many thoughts spinning through her head.

Gerald had been in the hospital for over a week now, nine days and thirteen hours to be exact but she wasn't counting, due to the massive blood loss and a few complications during the surgery to restore the main blood flow to his left arm. It was going to be a long time before he could come back to work for Ducky at NCIS, with the mass amount of writing involved with the job.

The elevator 'dinged', indicating it had reached her level. She walked off slowly and made her way to the first hallway and made a left.

She hoped she wouldn't be disturbing him. He had told Ducky, Abby, and Kate that they were free to drop by any time, but she was still worried about just showing up unannounced.

She made a left and walked the last few yards to his room. The butterflies in her stomach seemed to grow incessantly as she took the doorknob in her hand, she didn't think it would be this hard to open a door.

She knocked lightly with her left hand and waited for a response from the other side.

"Come in," Gerald called through the thick wooden hospital door.

Kate pushed back her fears and opened the door, just enough to allow her slim body to slide through.

Gerald looked up as she walked into the room, it had been two days since she had visited last but to him it was more like two months. Kate smiled at him from the other side of the room. Man, she looked beautiful today; her gently wind-matted, brunette hair hung freely around her face with a pair of green sunglasses pushing her bangs away from her eyes, she wore a brown tank top that brought out her wonderful eyes and tan Capri's that matched nicely with the top.

"Hey," Gerald said as she walked over to his bed, sitting up more than he had before.

"Hey, you feelin' any better?" she asked as she sat down on the edge of his hospital bed.

"A little, I'm still having some trouble with moving my arm though." He smiled lightly at Kate.

Silence accompanied them for a few minutes. He looked back over at Kate; she was staring at her lap playing with the green bracelet on her right arm. She looked a little confused today; normally she would dive right into a conversation and carry on talking with him till it was time for her to leave. Something was wrong, he wasn't sure what it was, but he was sure something was wrong.

"So," he started, "what's going on at the office?" he asked, just trying to get to a good point and ask her what was wrong.

"Um," Kate wasn't sure what to say, nothing had really happened, "Ducky thinks he's found someone to fill in for you until you come back to NCIS." 'Yeah, Kate,' she thought to herself, '"you're being replaced" is a great way to start off a conversation.'

"Oh, guess it'll be good for Ducky to get a full time replacement, instead of whoever happens to be down at autopsy."

"Gerald," Kate started to get his full attention.

"Yeah?" he looked over to her, again wondering what was on her mind.

"Do you--" she stopped, really not sure what to say, "Well...do you ever think about...well…" Gerald was looking very confused at that point, having no clue what she was going to say or ask.

"Do I ever think about what, Kate?"

"Well," she looked down at her fingers, "the terrorist?" she asked quietly.

Gerald took a deep breath, "Of course I do." He thought about her question a little more, certain that the subject of the terrorist was the thing on her mind. "I've had nightmares," he said almost as quietly as she had asked him about the terrorist.

"You have?" Kate asked, realizing she wasn't the only one who had been followed into their sleep.

"Quite a few times," he looked down into her eyes, "Have you?" he asked sincerely.

She looked away from his eyes for a moment, sorting through her thoughts before she began. "Once, last night." She looked back at Gerald, "It happened all over again. Everything. But he shot you and killed you this time." Kate was fighting back the tears now, trying to keep herself together. "He smiled and just laughed," she wiped furiously at the tears streaking her face, "And I still couldn't kill him, I still couldn't take that knife and kill him."

Gerald took his right arm and pulled her as close to him as he could, and whispered comforting words into her ear. She wrapped her left arm around his waist and her right arm around his neck, making sure she didn't hit his wounded shoulder.

They sat like that for a good twenty minutes, Gerald at sometimes crying with her and others just holding her close to him.

When they both finally stopped crying, Gerald pulled back just enough to see her tear-streaked face.

"In mine, he had you." Kate could tell it was just as hard for him to tell her his nightmares as it was for her. "He killed you and I had no idea how I was going to live without you." A small set of tears trickled down his face and she wiped them away.

"I'm scared Gerald, I'm scared he'll come back, and I don't know what I'd do if he did." Kate looked down at the white sheets of the bed, "You make me feel beautiful, you make me feel safe, you make me feel special, you make me feel like I'm worth something, you make me feel like I'm in love. And I don't ever want to lose that."

"Sweetie," Gerald said as he again pulled her close, "I love you and I'm not going anywhere. If that terrorist plans on ever coming back, I'll kill him myself; nothing is ever going to scare you again."

Finis


End file.
